KETTERING — In order to best serve all behavioral health patients in the Dayton region, Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center (KBMC) will transition inpatient adolescent psychiatric services to Dayton Children’s Hospital in summer 2019. Dayton Children’s is in process of expanding services, opening a behavioral crisis center in July 2018 and currently building a 24-bed adolescent inpatient unit.

“We are committed to doing what is in the best interests of our patients and our community,” says Roy Chew, president of Kettering Health Network. “As Dayton Children’s expands services focused on child and adolescent behavioral health, it gives us an opportunity to focus our resources on adult behavioral health services which are so desperately needed in southwest Ohio.”

To ensure uninterrupted behavioral health services for children and adolescents, KBMC and Dayton Children’s are working together to develop a smooth transition plan. The transition will occur when the new unit at Dayton Children’s opens, anticipated in July 2019. This transition will enable KBMC to expand behavioral health adult inpatient, intensive outpatient and outpatient services to meet the ever-increasing demand for those services. KBMC will continue to provide outpatient therapy services for adolescents.

“We are dedicated to the relentless pursuit of optimal health for all children within our reach,” says Deborah Feldman, president and CEO of Dayton Children’s Hospital. “We see mental health as a crucial element to that mission and will do whatever we can to support the needs of our kids and their families.”

“We know mental and behavioral health is a big area of concern for families in the Dayton region,” says Gregory Ramey PhD, executive director of the center for pediatric mental health resources at Dayton Children’s Hospital. “But we also know that one agency can’t do it all and we have amazing resources in our community for mental health. Through a collaborative partner network, we will continue to lead the community response to behavioral health needs.”